Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- KB Home CEO, President and Chairman Bruce Karatz has resigned after an internal investigation found that he backdated his own stock-option grants to increase his pay and will forfeit about $13 million in gains from the backdating, according to a media report Sunday. KB Home said Karatz would be succeeded as CEO by Jeffrey T. Mezger, the company's chief operating officer, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. See Wall Street Journal story (Subscription required). KB Home also said it has created the new post of non-executive chairman and will conduct a search for...

PACIFIC PALISADES - Wanting to see America beyond the beltway of power and politics in Washington, D.C., British Prime Minister Tony Blair began a two-day visit to Los Angeles on Monday - the first official trip to the Southland by a sitting British prime minister. Blair, who is here to discuss the environment, world politics and business, started with a meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Port of Long Beach, where the two signed an agreement to tackle global warming. Later, Blair was the guest of honor at a reception hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the recently reopened...